


It's Nice to Have a Friend

by wewriteletters



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Anxiety, Canon Continuation, Concussions, Friendship, Head Injury, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Malcolm is awkward Vijay is awkward but most importantly the author is awkward, Nausea, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23272471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wewriteletters/pseuds/wewriteletters
Summary: Takes place directly after 1x16.Vijay offers stay with Malcolm while he rests after his head injury and Malcolm realizes that sometimes feelings from high school don't go away.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Vijay Chandasara, past Malcolm Bright/Vijay Chandasara
Comments: 12
Kudos: 96





	It's Nice to Have a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> So I really don't know what this is, but I've been working on it since Tuesday and I put too much time into it to leave it in my google drive. I honestly have no idea how well I wrote Vijay since we only had one episode with him but I did my best! Hope you guys enjoy.

“Are you sure you don’t need help with your keys?”

“I’m fine. Didn’t you hear the doctors? They cleared me!”

“That is not what happened.”

“They only recommended I stay for observation...recommended being the keyword.” 

Vijay sighed and took the keys from his friend's hand. Malcolm had been struggling to find the right one for the past three minutes and when he finally found the one for his apartment, his hand was shaking too much to put it in the lock correctly. Malcolm pouted but let Vijay open the door and help lead him inside. 

Malcolm had been in the ER for the past five hours. Gil had insisted he go get checked out and that he was coming along with him. Malcolm only agreed when Gil promised to hold off on booking Vijay for trying to buy the stolen watches until later the next day. He hoped that Vijay would use that time to get a good lawyer, but he had also insisted on accompanying Malcolm to the ER, which lead to some very awkward moments in the waiting room as Gil tried to figure out how to interact with the man who had both put Malcolm in danger and saved him by driving a vintage Porsche into their killer. 

The doctor who checked Malcolm out ended up ordering a CT scan. They didn’t find any fluid or swelling in his brain, but he did have a hairline skull fracture and concussion. The doctor wanted him to spend the rest of the night and the next morning in the hospital for observation, but Malcolm insisted he’d be fine at home. Before the doctor could argue Vijay had interjected, saying he’d stay with Malcolm to make sure he was doing okay. Malcolm had tried to object to that, Vijay had much more pressing concerns than babysitting someone he hadn’t spoken to in years, but Gil shot him a look that told him it was either let Vijay stay with him, stay at the hospital, or get dropped off at his mother’s house. 

So here he was, trying not to let on how exhausted he actually was. The entire car ride over Malcolm had insisted he was fine, but it was getting harder and harder to keep up the act. His head was throbbing and the nausea was finally catching up with him. There were several times he almost asked Vijay to pull over just so he could vomit on the side of the road. Fortunately, for both the people in the car, Malcolm managed to make it to his apartment. But the second Malcolm was through the entryway, he was rushing to the bathroom and shutting the door.

There wasn’t much to throw up; the only meal he had had in the past 24 hours was a light lunch at the precinct. Still, he kept gagging over the toilet, his stomach insisting there must be something else it could expel. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hospital?” Malcolm involuntarily flinched at Vijay’s voice from behind the door, his head reeling. “Isn’t vomiting after a head injury like...really bad?”

“I’m always nauseous! It would be more concerning if I wasn’t throwing up,” Malcolm managed to reply, his head still resting on the cool, porcelain lid of the toilet. His face was getting warm and he knew he couldn’t blame it solely on the head injury.

Vijay was in his apartment. Vijay, who he hadn’t seen since they awkwardly made eye contact during their high school graduation ceremony. Vijay, who had betrayed his trust and gone behind his back just hours ago, but who had also saved his life. Vijay, who Malcolm always had complicated feelings for, even before the events of the past 24 hours.

Maybe he should have just agreed to stay at the hospital. 

Malcolm slowly pushed himself up, struggling to find his footing. All the adrenaline he felt at the docks was long gone; he was just exhausted, confused, and very uncoordinated. 

And somehow still embarrassed. A feeling that wasn’t lessened after he flushed the toilet, brushed his teeth, took off his jacket and tie, and left the bathroom only to see Vijay standing in his kitchen, cooking something on the stove top. 

“You know you don’t have to stay, right? I’ll be fine on my own.” Malcolm’s point was somewhat undercut by the fact that he needed to lean against a wall to keep himself from swaying too much. 

“I’m trying not to get on your cop friend's bad side. I’m already on the hook for aiding and abetting a gang of international robbers, I don’t need the man writing up the case summary to have a personal vendetta because I left you alone and you had a seizure in your bed.” 

Vijay’s tone was joking, but Malcolm immediately turned somber. “There were...exceptional circumstances. And trust me, I plan to use any bit of leverage I have at the NYPD to keep you out of prison.”

The thought of Vijay’s father was left unspoken. Even if Vijay had endangered their lives, Malcolm didn’t want him going to prison. Malcolm couldn’t even imagine how it would feel. Even thinking about the subject brought up memories of adults whispering in front of them about how they were lost causes, bad seeds, nothing but trouble. Malcolm wondered if Vijay put half the thought he did into outrunning his father’s legacy.

Vijay was quick to change the subject, no doubt more for Malcolm’s benefit than his own. “Don’t worry about it. The best thing about working for an insurance agency is we have access to great lawyers. And hey, I’m rich and worked in the United States government for six years so…” He trailed off and began gesturing to the pot he was stirring. “Why don’t we focus on the person with the brain injury? You had nothing in your fridge so I hope you like chicken broth and crackers because that was the only non perishable left in your cupboard.”

Malcolm slowly made his way down to the bar, gripping the wall as he went. Vijay tracked his movement carefully, looking ready to drop the spoon and sprint over to catch him at a moment's notice. Malcolm felt his cheeks burn up as he finally took a seat on one of the stools. 

“Aren’t people with head injuries not supposed to eat? I think that’s one of the things the doctor told me I shouldn’t be doing for the next ten hours.”

“Nice try. I see your eating habits haven’t improved since high school.” Vijay shook his head, no doubt recalling one of the many times he had to remind Malcolm to take a break to eat whenever they were spending a weekend cramming for an exam or doing a movie marathon. “You’ll feel better if you eat something.” 

“You clearly didn’t hear me in the bathroom for the past ten minutes.”

“It’s broth and crackers. If that makes you nauseous, you definitely should go back to the ER.” 

Malcolm cracked a small smile at that, although it quickly turned into a wince as the simple movement sent a spasm of pain through his head. 

“You also aren’t supposed to take your pain medication on an empty stomach,” Vijay added, noticing Malcolm shutting his eyes against the rising pressure in his skull. He turned the stove off and poured the soup into a bowl he had left out on the counter. “So...bon appétit.” 

Vijay slid the bowl over to Malcolm as he turned the corner of the counter to sit by him. The close proximity just made Malcolm’s cheeks grow warmer.

“You really don’t have to stay. I’m just going to go to bed after this. It’s not going to be much fun.” Malcolm tried to keep his voice light and casual, but if he was being honest, a big part of him wanted Vijay to stay. He hadn’t realized how much he missed his old friend and it would be nice to not be alone when he was still feeling so sick. But still, another part of him was embarrassed, especially considering that if Vijay stayed any longer, he’d notice the restraints on his bed. Malcolm didn’t know if he was up for explaining those or any night terrors he might have. 

“I’m not going, dude. You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Vijay replied, taking off his own jacket and putting it on the stool beside him as if proving his point about staying a while. “Someone needs to wake you up every two hours and make sure you haven’t, like, fallen into a coma. That would seriously screw up my weekend plans. Just think of it like a sleepover! Except it’s 10 in the morning and only one of us is sleeping.”

Malcolm laughed again as he managed to choke down a few spoonfuls of soup and a couple crackers. “Like that time you forgot about the biology midterm until the Saturday before and made me stay up studying with you for the next 48 hours? That kind of sleepover?”

“If I recall, I told you you could sleep! I just needed a place to study and you know my freshman year roommate always had girls over on the weekends. You were lucky you never had to deal with that.” 

Malcolm suddenly hesitated, glancing away from Vijay. His hand started to shake so he put down the spoon, hoping it would make the tremor less noticeable. He remembered the two of them being teenagers, and Vijay asking if he could move into Malcolm’s room since he didn’t have a roommate and Vijay hated his. Malcolm never figured out how to tell him the reason he didn’t have a roommate was because he had a habit of waking up in the night screaming or jumping out of bed or running across the room as if someone was chasing him because in his damaged mind, someone was. He always just changed the subject, dodging the question as best he could.

It also meant that the few times Malcolm let Vijay stay in his room overnight, he was awake the whole time. 

And yet here he was, fifteen years later, about to let Vijay stay in his apartment while he tried to sleep off a concussion. 

Vijay must have noticed Malcolm’s demeanor change because his expression grew softer. “Feeling okay? Maybe you should get some rest now. I’ll clean up the kitchen while you get changed…” Vijay trailed off as Malcolm looked back down at his soup. All in all he had only managed to eat about a fourth of it and a handful of crackers but it hadn’t made him nauseous and he wasn’t about to push his luck. 

“Uh, yeah, sorry. I’ll...go change, you can just go watch TV or something, I’ll be fine. Thank you for the soup!” Malcolm pushed himself up from the stool way too fast. His head started spinning and he reached out wildly to try and grab on to the bar counter to steady himself. Before he could fall, Vijay was grabbing him by the arm to try and steady him. Malcolm grabbed him back, much harder than he intended, to keep himself from losing his balance any further. 

The pain shooting through his head was horrible and Malcolm blinked rapidly to try and get rid of black spots that were invading his vision. When he opened his eyes again, he realized he had fallen towards Vijay’s chest and was now wrapped up in a sort of half hug, as the taller man held him close to let him lean on his body and keep his swaying legs from giving out completely. 

Malcolm quickly let out a muffled apology as he tried to pull back. Vijay helped keep a hold of him by the shoulder until he was standing straight again, and even then he was hesitant to let go. 

“Are you sure you’re okay? I don’t think it would be ideal for you to fall and hit your head again.”

“Just dizzy,” Malcolm replied, trying to keep himself grounded. Being so close to Vijay had sent his mind back fifteen years ago, to the days were Vijay would tell him to scoot over in his twin size bed as they sat close watching TV, to holding hands when they went for walks in the woods near campus, to that one night when they were alone in the library because they were the only students not at Fall Formal and Vijay had put his hand on Malcolm’s thigh and leaned over and actually kissed him.

Malcolm quickly shook his head, then immediately regretted it as sparks of pain flew from the base of his skull. He took a slow step back, trying to fight off the tremor that was slowly overtaking his entire body. “Let me just go grab something...more comfortable.”

Well that came out horribly.

Malcolm somehow made his way over to his dresser to pull out a long sleeve flannel top and sweatpants, before practically limping back into the bathroom to change. He hated how flustered he was getting. Malcolm decided to blame the head injury for all the confusion and embarrassment he was feeling, but memories from high school were still replaying in his head as he somehow managed to change his pants without falling over into the shower. 

When Malcolm was finally dressed, he made his way out of the bathroom. He hoped that he could make it to the bed without Vijay noticing, so the other man would just think he was asleep and not disturb him.

But of course, Vijay was waiting right by the bed, with a large glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol Malcolm had gotten from the ER. Malcolm almost flinched when he realized there was no way Vijay hadn’t noticed the restraints and he felt blood rush to his cheeks yet again as his mind sounded off all the assumptions Vijay was probably making about him.

“Here,” Vijay said, holding out the glass of water as Malcolm sat down on the opposite edge of the bed and slowly pulled himself on to it. “If you’re not feeling too nauseous, you should probably take one of these.”

The soup had settled in his stomach surprisingly well so Malcolm nodded, taking the glass and a pill that Vijay had poured out from the bottle. He swallowed it with a small sip of water, hoping that it would dull the pain enough that he could actually fall asleep. The fact that rest sounded so tempting was how Malcolm knew the blow to his head had been really bad.

It was only when Malcolm had looked back towards the kitchen did he realize he needed to take his morning medication. He was tempted not to bring it up, he didn’t want to explain another one of his issues to Vijay, but he knew he would feel terrible once he woke up if he missed a dose and he figured Vijay had already seen them while he was working in the kitchen. No use hiding them now.

“Would you mind...” Malcolm hesitated, looking down at his glass of water. “Uh, I have some other medication I need to take, it’s on the counter. Could you go grab them-”

Before Malcolm could even finish, Vijay was going down towards the kitchen. Malcolm did a quiet sigh of relief, but he still felt very exposed letting Vijay bring him his medication. He used to hide the multitude of pills he was on in high school in his dresser; Vijay had seen him take them a few times, but Malcolm always preferred to keep them out of sight. He remembered the first week of high school, before he had met Vijay, he had brought another student to his room to work on a class assignment and he could tell the display of orange bottles made him uncomfortable. It certainly didn’t help quell the rumors of what a “psycho” he was. 

Before he could get lost in thought, Vijay was back, setting the pill bottles on the bedside table so Malcolm could easily reach them. Malcolm mumbled a thanks and began taking them one by one, as Vijay took a seat on the edge of the bed and, probably sensing how awkward Malcolm was feeling, changed the subject.

“So the bird...what’s up with that?”

Malcolm couldn’t help but smile at the mention of Sunshine. He looked over at the parakeet, who was currently cleaning her feathers. “That’s Sunshine. She’s a four year old Budgerigar parakeet. I’d let you pet her but she’s not a huge fan of strangers.”

“I am fine with that. Birds kind of creep me out,” Vijay admitted, looking at the cage with a hint of suspicion. “But I guess having a pet is good for you...A parakeet is definitely less weird than those snakes you kept in high school.”

Malcolm chuckled at the memory. “You mean the snakes you saw one time during winter break, because the second I pulled one of them out of the tank you ran from my bedroom screaming?”

“Precisely!”

“I’m starting to think animals in general just creep you out.”

“Not true. I fish-sat my sister's koi pond last year and I thought they were quite beautiful.” 

Malcolm took a final sip of the water, hoping his stomach wouldn’t betray him again. He didn't feel super nauseous anymore, but the pain in his head was increasing and he needed the Tylenol and other medication to absorb if he was going to get sick again. “Well don’t worry about Sunshine. She’ll keep to herself. Thank you for everything, but really I’m just going to get some sleep now.” Malcolm awkwardly pulled the blankets over himself. “You can watch TV or read any of the books, or just use your phone.” Maybe if he spoke casually enough, Vijay would forget about the restraints that were still lying on either side of Malcolm, and just leave him to go play words with friends. 

“Are you sure you’re good?” Vijay asked, taking the glass from Malcolm and setting it on the bedside table. Malcolm wondered if he felt guilty for being part of the reason he was injured in the first place and that’s why he seemed so concerned about his health. “I mean, I’m going to have to wake you up again in two hours and ask, like, who the president is so I want to make sure you’re comfortable for now.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” Malcolm said, realizing his hands were starting to shake. The sudden realization that Vijay might not even have to wake him up, that Malcolm might wake himself up from a night terror, was dawning on him once again. He’d rather at least prepare Vijay for what could happen rather than scaring him if he suddenly woke up screaming. Before he could stop himself, he rushed out: “Just a heads up...I can get pretty bad nightmares so if I start screaming I promise I’m not being murdered! Don’t try to wake me up though, I strap myself to the bed so I can’t get up, so it’s better to just let me work through it on my own. I don’t want to accidentally punch you, it would be a shame if we both came out of this day with concussions.” Malcolm laughed a little, turning his gaze back down to the blanket as he played with the edge. 

“Oh…” Vijay looked down as if he was noticing the leather cuffs for the first time. “I’m sorry, man. I know things have been tough-”

“Yeah,” Malcolm interjected as he picked up the right restraint and began putting it on his wrist. Between the embarrassment, his tremor and incoordination brought on from the conclusion, it was more of a struggle than usual. “Just...wanted to give you a heads up.”

“Well, here let me help-”

“Vijay, it’s fine.”

Before Malcolm could finish the sentence, Vijay put his hand over Malcolm’s wrist and was helping him guide the strap through the buckle. Memories of high school once again began to float in Malcolm’s mind. Vijay’s hands were soft and warm, just like they had been in 9th grade when he had kissed him. When they had kept their lips together, until Malcolm awkwardly pulled away and refused to make eye contact. When Vijay had slowly brought his hand over to Malcolm’s and squeezed it and smiled at him. When Malcolm finally returned the smile because he had liked kissing Vijay and he wanted to do it again. 

When the two of them had silently agreed that even if they both liked it, they weren’t going to do it again. 

Before Malcolm could get lost in his thoughts anymore, Vijay was speaking. 

“Whit- … Bright,” Vijay started, pulling his hands away from the restraints. “I want to apologize.”

“For what?” The first thing that came to Malcolm’s mind was going behind his back to talk to the robbers, which would be a fair thing to apologize for, but running down the thrill killer had at least somewhat made up for it. 

“For...everything. For not being honest tonight, but mostly for not being there for you when you needed me in high school. I should have made more of an effort to stay connected with you. I should have understood why you were struggling with making friends and actually helped you work through it. I mean, I dealt with the same shit too, I should have understood. So, I’m sorry. It’s fifteen years late, I know, and I wish I had tried to connect with you after high school, but now that we’re somehow back in each other's lives, I’d really like to keep in touch this time.” Vijay said it all quickly, as if he was afraid to see Malcolm’s reaction if he let the words sink in. 

Malcolm sat up slightly, ignoring the protest from his sore head as it was lifted off the pillow. He didn’t know why Vijay was apologizing. What happened between them was complicated and confusing and Malcolm probably couldn’t pinpoint any particular moment where he realized they weren’t actually friends anymore but it was hardly Vijay’s fault. He did remember going to parties that Vijay invited him too. He also remembered how all of Vijay’s new friends had still been cold to him. It was like when Vijay’s father was released on parole, a switch was flipped and overnight he went from outcast to homecoming king. Malcolm’s father would never be released from prison, which meant he would never fit in. And although it had never been explicitly said, there was always an unspoken understanding between them; going to prison for smuggling cocaine was a lot different than being in a mental ward for brutally murdering twenty three people.

But still, Vijay had tried. He couldn’t control the stares other kids gave Malcolm, the comments they whispered about how flinchy and weird he was. And Malcolm had been practically terrified of being around other students in social settings. Years of being alone in middle school meant he had no basis for forming relationships with kids his own age and he automatically distrusted them all, both because of how he had been treated by his peers in the past and by whatever trust issues his father left him with. Malcolm tried not to blame himself, he tried to remember what Gabrielle told him, but his father’s point about how Vijay had turned out so well adjusted when he was still so broken had been ringing in his head all day.

Why was Vijay apologizing when it was so clear Malcolm was the problem?

“Vijay…” Malcolm started, the words coming out slowly. His thoughts were still foggy from the blow to his head and the last thing he wanted to was say the wrong thing. “It wasn’t your fault. You’re right, I was hard to get along with. It wouldn’t have been fair of me to hold you back from making friends and actually enjoying high school.”

“You weren’t hard to get along with. You were a great friend!” Vijay insisted. “I missed hanging out with you after we drifted apart. And I could have looked you up after high school-”

“I changed my last name and joined the FBI, Vijay, I don’t think you could have found me if you wanted to.” 

He sighed, looking down at Malcolm with a smile. “Stubborn as always.” 

“So I’ve been told.” Malcolm leaned back against the pillows, his headache not being helped by all the talking he was doing. “Don’t blame yourself, Vijay. If we’re going to blame anyone, I think it should be the convicted serial killer.”

Malcolm’s own thoughts of blame were left unsaid. He was too exhausted and in too much pain to even try and unpack his feelings at that moment. Vijay must have picked up on it, because he dropped the subject.

“Yeah, I think that’s fair. Hell, I know I blame my dad for every issue I deal with. Do you know how hard it is to get a job in the US treasury when your family ran one of the biggest drug trafficking operations in the 80s? I’m surprised I made it through the initial background check!”

Malcolm laughed, recalling his mother hinting about making certain donations to certain politicians reelection campaigns when she realized Malcolm was serious about applying for the FBI. “I think I have an idea. Thank you Martin Whitly and Dhruv Chandasara for starting your sons out on the right path.” 

“If you didn’t have a concussion, I’d go pour us both some scotch. We could make a toast to it.”

“To bad dads!” Malcolm said, lifting his hand as far as the restraint would let him in a mock salute. 

“Sounds about right.”

Vijay helped Malcolm put the left restraint on. Between the moving around and all the talking, Malcolm felt exhausted. His headache did not appreciate the heart to heart with an old friend and it was begging him to just close his damn eyes already. 

“Okay, you better get some rest now. I’m guessing your scary cop friends will be calling soon and demanding proof of sleep.” Vijay slowly pulled his hands back as Malcolm let himself lean back against the pillow some more. “I hope you feel better. And...I really am sorry for the whole “getting you held hostage by a gang of robbers” thing.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you had any idea of the situations I’ve been in at the NYPD, you’d realize how tame last night was.”

“You’ll have to tell me about them some time. I mean, provided I’m not serving 10 to 25 at Rikers by next month.” 

“So you weren’t joking about staying in contact?” Malcolm questioned. 

“I mean, yeah. Why not get the Corner Table Boys back for another round? I know this great diner on 8th avenue, although I don’t think any of their tables are really in a corner…”

“I would like that.”

Vijay smiled, standing up from his place on the bed. “Sleep well, Malcolm. I hope you don’t have nightmares.” 

“You and me both,” Malcolm replied, finally letting his body relax and his eyes close. He listened as Vijay went around the apartment, closing all the curtains he could and turning off all the lights. The darkness lifted some of the tension from the back of his skull, but he knew it was going to be a long few days of pain and trying to keep his mother from randomly showing up at his apartment to “help.” He tried to quiet the flurry of thoughts still buzzing in his head. He had to talk to Gil about what kind of deal Vijay could get. He still had to see his father. And he had to call Eve and apologize yet again for leaving dinner early.

But for now, he just tried to focus on the few happy memories he had of high school. 

He hoped he could see Vijay again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
